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Pupy’s Mud Gathering Style

June 23, 2025

The sun is getting hot here in Mato Grosso and we’ve seen Pupy spending more and more time at the mud wallow. She is a little bit of an itchy girl, which makes sense because she has a good bit of dead skin all over her body. With every tree she scratches herself on or each bit of mud she covers herself with, her skin loses some of those tough layers and begins to renew itself. 

Pupy has an interesting method of using her feet to augment what her trunk can do. As we’ve mentioned before, Pupy has some difficulties using her trunk at times, but this is one of the methods we’ve seen her use to adjust to what she’s dealing with. Because of those challenges with her trunk, she’s creating new ways of getting things done. The Asian elephants also scoop mud with their feet, but have been known to push their trunks into the mud and blow or scoop the mud up. Pupy seems to be consistently using her feet to work the packed mud loose, easing some onto her trunk and then tossing it on herself with the flick of a nose. At times, the elephants seem to want more of the thicker mud that sticks to them better. In this video, Pupy looks relaxed and delighted to disperse plenty of mud onto her sides and back.

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Comments(9)

  1. REPLY
    Doe Fowler says
    June 23, 2025 at 3:17 pm

    Excellent form, Pupy! The birds were even cheering you on. Love you busy bee! Love to all.

  2. REPLY
    Patricia says
    June 23, 2025 at 4:48 pm

    Pupy, you are an inspiration to me. Sending mud wallows of love to you! 💞💗💞

  3. REPLY
    Maureen says
    June 23, 2025 at 5:08 pm

    Pupy is making sure that mud sticks! LOL, she is flipping that mud hard. I don’t remember for certain, but I don’t think she had a mud wallow before, so this is certainly a delight. She looks very happy, as she should be.

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      June 23, 2025 at 5:09 pm

      You’re correct. Her enclosure had a pool, but no mud wallow

  4. REPLY
    Beci Bostwick says
    June 23, 2025 at 6:33 pm

    How does she get it on the top of her back?

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      June 23, 2025 at 7:12 pm

      She can still spray her back. She just seems to have an easier time when she sprays the sides.

  5. REPLY
    Zee says
    July 1, 2025 at 1:05 pm

    Has Pupy had a chance to be with/interact with other elephants yet? If so how is that going?

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      July 1, 2025 at 1:07 pm

      Pupy is the first female African elephant, so she’s not interacted with the Asian elephants. Each species has their own habitat. We’re working to bring Kenya, another female African elephant, to sanctuary soon.

  6. REPLY
    Finn Jørgensen Lock says
    July 27, 2025 at 7:01 pm

    So beautiful💖💖Pupy💕💖

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